St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) reported a 12% gain in its first-quarter earnings.

For the year, St. Jude lifted its adjusted earnings forecast to $3.95 to $4 per share on revenue of $5.61 billion to $5.76 billion. The company had earlier expected earnings of $3.94 to $3.99 per share on revenue of $5.6 billion to $5.75 billion.

St. Jude's quarterly profit surged to $249 million, or $0.86 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $223 million, or $0.78 per share. Excluding special items, its adjusted earnings came in at $0.96 per share.

Its revenue climbed 1.9% to $1.36 billion. St. Jude had earlier projected a profit of $0.94 to $0.96 per share on revenue of $1.28 to $1.36 billion.